Akaanir for the Champion
by JadinSedai
Summary: "Mind If I ask you a personal question?" Nothing is ever simple, especially when it comes to the Champion. F!Bounty Hunter x Torian Cadera
1. Chapter 1

It had all started with his question.

He had been watching her from the moment he joined the team. Even before that actually. At her award ceremony, in the Mando hunting camp on Dromund Kaas, even on Taris when nothing should have been able to take his mind off his mission. Watching in awe and…. He couldn't put his finger on the other emotion. A tightening in his chest and adrenaline would flow through him. He would get antsy then, wanting to hunt or spar with her. Wanting her attention on him, her recognition… her praise.

He would not ask for that though, not until his name was worthy. But it didn't stop the wanting.

When it got to strong he would catch himself about to say things he shouldn't, changing his words quickly to something more acceptable. "You're an amazing shot." "…Quite the view." But she didn't make it easy. Her tone would go sultry in response, eyes lighting up with a laugh she didn't give voice to. Her hand always rested on one hip when this happened, instantly drawing his attention to that curve.

He wanted to put his hands there. To feel that slope for himself while he pulled her flush against him. Even with her armor in the way the idea kept him entertained in his daydreams.

This last time they had spoken was no different. They had just gotten back from a very satisfying hunt, both feeling the blush of victory over something twice their combined size.

 _The ships door shut behind them with a 'woosh' and Kaylatin turned to face Torian, continuing to walk backwards._

" _Here." Her hand shot out and something came flying at his face. He grabbed it out of the air with ease and turned it over in his hand. It was a long brilliantly white claw._

" _I took it from the beast. Thought you might like it." Her eyes were focused just above his shoulder now, her flush a little deeper then seconds before._

" _I'll keep it close." She always grinned at his response to her trophies. This time that grin was all the motivation he needed. His heart hammered in his chest harder than any fight had ever made it and he spoke again, trying not to think about what he was doing. "Mind If I ask you a personal question?"_

 _Kaylatin stopped walking backwards and cocked her head to the side, considering. Slowly, as if she didn't even know she was doing it, her hand came up and rested on her hip._

" _If I answer it, I get to ask you something personal." Her lips curved mischievously._

" _Fair enough." He answered automatically, not thinking, just trying to finish what he started before he could think better of it. "Are you seeing anyone?"_

 _There, he had finally said it. The question that had been burning in the back of his mind for as long as he'd know her. And for a few seconds he was relieved that he had just gotten it over with and asked! Relieved until her hand slid from her hip and a crease appeared between her brows._

 _He froze, feeling cold as goose bumps ran down his arms._

" _Not really….well kind of." She wouldn't meet his eyes. Her blush had gone from pink to full blown red and from the look on her face she had no idea why she had answered his question._

 _He stood as still as a statue, watching her avoid his gaze._

" _Oh." He didn't know what else to say. He hadn't been expecting her to answer with a yes, or the yes-ish answer she had given. Was that even a real yes? What was "Well kind of." supposed to mean to him? He worked with absolutes: Yes or No. Anything other than those could be misinterpreted! "So-"_

 _The door behind him swung open and Mako entered the ship, arms heavy with metal scavenging materials._

" _Hey you guys, how did your hunt go?" Kaylatin_ _focused on Mako like a homing missile. Going to the little healer's side and taking the arm full from her._

" _We're still alive and it's not, I'd say it went well."_

" _You didn't get hurt did you? Torian?" Mako glanced at him to confirm but her gaze froze when she saw his face. Instantly she was by his side, poking wherever her fingers could fit between his armor looking for blood. "What happened? Was the thing poisonous? Where did it get you? Urgh, both of you! You know it was bad enough with just Kaylatin but you're as reckless as her. You need to try and be more careful."_

" _It didn't get me." He put his hand on Mako's shoulder and stepped around her. "I'm fine." Without looking back at either of them he left the room, heading for the bunks._

He laid in his bunk now, all their conversations playing over and over in his head. He went over every word, every expression, trying to see where he had misread her interest. He had been so sure! Every time she had spoken with him had reinforced his conviction, and the way they sparred together … Five days ago their staffs had clashed in an even match of strength.

 _Both were panting and sweaty but neither was willing to be the first to give up the offensive, their eyes locked while they grinned at each other. Their bodies were being held apart only by the two staffs between them. And even while fighting to hold her back Torian couldn't help taking quick breaths through his nose, enjoying the scent that floated from her. Every time he was this close he could just smell her natural scent. Not the smell of perfume spray on in excess or over the top lotions, just her. And every time he wanted to just bury his face in her neck and breathe deep._

 _His thoughts lasted for only a second as, curiously, Torian watched as Kaylatin's_ _gaze shifted, lowering to his mouth and watching it with unmistakable intent. He'd seen that look in her eyes before, it was usually fallowed with a thinly vailed innuendo. But this time there was no vail, he could practically feel the heat from her stare and a nervous anticipation started to build in his stomach. Without meaning to he followed her lead, watching her parted lips as she panted from the strain of pushing against each other. This would be his undoing._

 _Her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip and his stomach jumped as he tried to imagine what was going on in her head, on what could possibly make her so distracted. His grip slackened a minuscule amount but it was enough to give Kaylatin's the edge. His staff went flying and Kaylatin pitched forward, a look of shock blooming on her face._

Mako had giving him a nice long lecture about that one while she healed up the large gash he had received on the side of his head. Apparently if they wanted to be sparring with real weapons they were supposed to wear real armor, including helmets.

With a grunt of frustration Torian pushed himself up. Fixating wasn't getting him anywhere, he had been combing through his memories for the last hour and nothing new occurred to him.

"Such an idiot…." He muttered bitterly.

"I hope you're not talking about me." Mako stood in the doorway to the bunks, expression gentle but concerned. She came into the room and sat beside Torian on his bunk, pulling her legs up to cross them. He shifted over to give her more room, purposely not meeting her curious stare. "Kaylatin's been quieter than usual tonight, you wouldn't happen to know why would you?" He shrugged a shoulder in a vague response and heard Mako sigh. "Okay, since I can't slice into humans I guess I'll just have to check the ships security cameras and see if they can give me some answers." Torian tensed at her words. The ship had security cameras?

Silence passed between them at this. Torian trying to work out what to say while Mako gave him some time to make up his mind. Finally she unfolded her legs and got ready to get up, feeling like he was just stalling at this point.

"She's seeing someone?" Mako settled back down, looking at him with comprehension. She waited for him to say more for a full minute but nothing more came.

"Is that what she told you? That she's seeing someone?" Mako asked.

"Yes. I think." Mako raised an eyebrow at him. "She said: Not really, well kind of."

"Humm… well that makes sense." Torian stare at her. It makes sense? Mako and Kaylatin must be cut from the same cloth when it came to him understanding them.

Mako laughed girlishly at the look Torian was giving her. "It does! Look, we've been moving around pretty much since the beginning of The Great Hunt. Never staying anywhere long enough for either of us to start a real relationship, not to mention being far too busy. But sometimes you just need a good old bought of…" She trailed off as her cheeks reddened, "of stress relief. And in this line of work it's not easy to trust! When you do find someone you can trust and if they're just as interested in keeping things purely physical… well Kaylatin found that on Nar Shaddaa."

Nar Shaddaa …. That explained a few things. When he had first joined the team he thought it strange they made so many trips to the smugglers moon. Mostly after a particularly hard fight or in celebration of something.

Always Gault, Mako, and Kaylatin running off to the cantina while Torian stayed on the ship, not comfortable enough with his place to be drinking with the other crew members yet. Gault would return around midnight with a very drunk Mako on his back and Kaylatin would slip back some time in the early morning, looking like she had just left a bar fight.

He opened his mouth to speak but Mako push on over him. "But Torian, haven't you noticed? It's been months since the last time we went to Nar Shaddaa. And the last time Kaylatin and I where together the whole time! We invited you to come with us, remember?"

He did remember. Kaylatin had seemed uneasy that trip and he had taken it as her only wanting Mako around so he had stayed behind, forcing a annoyed and vocal Gault to stay with him.

That time it had been a very drunk Kaylatin carrying a passed out Mako back to the ship.

"I remember."

Mako sat with him for a while after that, playing with a piece of tech she had pulled from her pocket as he thought things through. He thought maybe she was waiting for him to ask her questions but he didn't have any. Not for her anyways.

When she finally did leave it was past 11 and Torian had just decided on what his next move would be.

* * *

 **A/N: Torian love forever, he's to damn cute.**


	2. Chapter 2

The ship was quiet; the only sound was the gentle hum that always filled the air. Gault was still out on a mission and Mako was asleep. That left Torian with all the space he needed as he went over his plan once more in his head. It was more a basic outline then a full blown plan, whenever someone else was included you could never be 100% sure the details would stay the same.

His nerves were surprisingly steady as he reached out and gently knocked on the Champions bedroom door. He could faintly hear her moving around inside, saying muffled things to herself as something hit the floor. He forced his body to relax as she reached the door and could hear her more clearly.

"For the last time Mako," She swung the door open, "I'm fi-" She looked annoyed and disheveled… and was in nothing but her underwear.

His brain took a moment to process this as he just stared at her. He had never seen so much of her skin before. Always she had some kind of armor on, even if it was just the light stuff they sparred in. And from what he saw now it had done an amazing job of hiding her figure. He knew she was strong, he had the scars to attest to that, but her body wasn't rippling with muscles like some of the Mando women he had seen. He could defiantly see the definition of muscles on her but somehow she still looked… soft. Even with the numerous scars and burn marks littering her skin he still thought it would be like silk under his fingers. Or mouth.

Everything about Kaylatin was perfect. The curve of her breasts, her hips, how soft her thighs looked in the pale light of the dimly lit space ship. Only a heartbeat had passes and he already knew he had been staring to long. His hands balled into fists at his sides, forcing them to stay where they were.

"Torian." She breathed his name in surprise and his body felt warm. The way Kaylatin had said his name… so close to breathless and needy, he wanted to hear it again and again. "Sorry I thought you were…" She finally seemed to notice his intense gaze, now watching her mouth as she spoke. "Mako."

She sucked in a slow breath of air and he realized he had taken a step forward. How quickly she had shattered any semblance of the plan he had made.

"Mako. Right. She came to see me." He forced his feet still, knowing he couldn't get any closer until after he said his peace. "Told me the story of why you guys like Nar Shaddaa so much."

She stared at him, seemingly at a loss for words before whispering. "Actually Mako hates it there."

Torian raised an eyebrow and watched as her ears went pink. _mesh'la (beautiful)_ He couldn't help himself, his hand reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear. Fingers lingering longer than necessary. Her eyes lidded for a second and breath hitched, like he had just tickled her.

He made a mental note of that reaction for later.

"I just wanted to let you know I got you six, no matter what." It was hard to believe that only this afternoon he had been panicking about asking her a question and now… now he did what he had been holding himself back from for so long.

Torian closed the distance between them, one hand finally getting to rest on Kaylatin's waist, the other pushing around the back of her neck and into her hair. Taking off his armor before coming to see her had been the right move it seemed.

He continually forgot how much shorter she was then him as she now had to tilt her head back to keep eye contact. Their faces were only inches apart and he could feel her breath on his cheeks. She smelt like clean skin and something he could only describe as women. It clouded his mind and he could barely think through the want.

"Also," His voice was so thick he had to swallow to speak, "I never give up without a fight."

Kaylatin's hips hit his as he tightened his hold on her waist, pulling her as close to him as he could with cloths still separating them. And his lips crushed into hers, frantic and burning. This was a declaration of war, his promise to her that he wasn't going to just sit back and let her go. He had always imagined kissing her gently at first, both of them relaxed and laughing at something she'd said and it just happened. Instead his teeth nipped her bottom lip and he ran his tongue across it, the taste of her heating his blood. He wanted more, to go deeper, but he couldn't, not yet.

He had to stop himself, to pull away and- Kaylatin's arms buried themselves in his hair as she opened her mouth and attacked his tongue with hers. Her body arched into his causing her to let out a sound more high pitched then he had ever heard from her before. If he had though his kissing had been ruff hers was vicious. Her nails scrapped his scalp as her tongue curled around his, momentarily winning their wrestling match. Already both were panting against each other's open mouths, neither willing to be the first to pull away.

Kaylatin tensed, like she was about to jump on him. To wrap her legs around his waist and pull her body up his, to have her face above him. To ride him to the ground…

Torian pulled away, mouth and body, and help her at arms length. Panting she watching him, only slits of her eyes left open. The look on her face could only be described as a "Get your ass back here."

He was so tempted.

Instead he let go of her and took a few steps back, grinning at the annoyed look she gave him.

"Sleep well _beroya."_

* * *

 ** _beroya -_ Bounty Hunter**


End file.
